5.31.2012

Day by day time has been flying by and in all honesty I have been wait
for that feeling. Ever since Brian and I got engaged time has seemed to
inch by {surprising right?}.

I am all for enjoying the moment and having enough time to plan
our wedding, but after major aspects of the wedding were planned {our
date and colors, the venue, reception hall, DJ, my dress....} time
seemed to slow to a crawl. After about 2 months of engagement we
had the bases covered and a solid foundation for our wedding was
complete . It was too early to look at suits, too early to do invites or
decorations so I kept busy with the little details. It's finally come
to the time when most of my free time is wedding spent. I love my little
world filled with inspiration, but how do you decide on it all. How
do you know when to stop looking and just know that those are the right
decorations, or that is the perfect dessert style. How you know when to
stop looking? That's my question to previous or current brides.

I have
looked at thousands of pictures and dozens of blogs, websites, and stores. It
feels like there could always be something better. I know most people
feel this way when they are looking for their dress, but when I found
that I knew instantly. I guess I did things a little backwards....how
does that not surprise me!

Do I just keep researching or do we just make up our minds and not turn
back? Conquering the wedding envy was harder then I thought. It can be a
little dangerous to look at the amazing wedding blogs or extravagant
Pintrest boards filled with million dollar weddings. So what is your suggestion?

5.10.2012

I wrote them down, mapped them out and was off. I was on a quest for apartment accessories, particularly lighting, nightstand tables, or an entryway table for the apartment. I had almost given up hope after 1/2 a dozen thrift sales with no new items in tow. I was moments away from throwing in the towel when I spotted it.

A thrift sale with about 8 different lamps, from floor lamps taller then me, to an almost matching set of white lamps that were screaming 'Emily take me!' I noticed that they would need a little work, but I would much rather add my own stamps to them. I love taking something worn down and making it new, so that's what I did all afternoon. A few yards of fabric, my trusty glue gun, a can of ivory spray paint and with lots of patience I set off to make these lamps a little more apartment ready.

They started like this with their white pain chipping away and covered in a light layer of dust from the months of neglect. After a good cleaning and a few coats of paint they looked brand spanking new again and ready for some stylish lampshades that would match our apartment. The color of our walls in the family room is a very light sea foamy blue, and that goes perfectly with our brown coach. The whole color scheme of our kitchen/family room is sea blue, tan & brown. The color scheme of our bathroom/bedroom is cranberry, tan, cream & brown.

So when it came time to pick out the fabric I knew exactly what I was looking for. You can probably guess which two lamps will be in the family room and which one in the bedroom. These will add a nice touch of color and help to incorporate our themes while doing their real purpose, adding light to our rooms.

I have a few yards of extra fabric and have some ideas in my head about how to use them but I could use a few suggestions. One of the first things people might think of is pillows, but seeing as I just bought a few of those to make resting on the couch a little more comfy I want to use it else ware. I plan to make some wall art with the fabric, but I'm looking for a few other ideas.

Any suggestions? How would you use the extra fabric in your family room/bedroom?